The present invention concerns an oscillator for time measurement, the oscillator comprising a resonator the oscillation of which is excited by at least one member reciprocated by electrostatic forces derived from electrodes connected to a direct voltage source, the member being periodically charged by alternating contact with the electrodes. Such electrostatic drives are particularly suitable for direct connection to a direct source of high voltage such as an isotope battery with direct conversion.
Several oscillator drives based on an electrostatic principle are known which, however, are operated with alternating current. These are unsuitable for conversion of a high direct voltage into mechanical energy. There are electrostatic converters which produce a simple drive and can be operated with a single oscillating capacitor which works by a known charging and discharging process. However, these are not suitable for maintaining a mechanical oscillation. If, for example, a mechanical resonator is to be operated from a simple oscillating capacitor which operates only unilaterally in a discharge mode this resonator would receive one pulse only in one direction until the condenser plates are in contact with each other and discharge. The efficiency of such a system would consequently be very poor and the frequency of the mechanical resonator would have to be higher than the extremely short time constant of the charging time (or frequency) of the capacitor spring. This is not possible in practice.
The time-determining member in this case would be the capacitor spring. If it was desired to use a unilaterally acting oscillating capacitor for a mechanical resonator which receives a pulse at its zero point, this is not possible, because although the pulse would be possible to supply half an oscillation, the capacitor spring would be tensioned during its passage through the zero point for the second half-oscillation and the drive during further movement would be in the wrong direction. The same applies to cases in which the mechanical resonator touches a contact in passing through the zero point in order to supply the capacitor with current. In these cases a commutator (current-reversing) principle would have to be used, and this is not possible for zero point pulses in alternating form. The drive of a mechanical resonator according to the above known embodiments of oscillating capacitors is therefore not possible. Similarly, a drive of a mechanical resonator with conventional alternating self-discharging oscillating capacitors is impossible, since the rigid oscillating capacitor plates do not permit free oscillation of the mechanical resonator.